Despite having been a part of some of the biggest franchises ever — “X-Men,” “Indiana Jones,” and soon, “Star Wars” — James Mangold is making his disdain for “multi-movie universe-building” known.
The “A Complete Unknown” writer/director told Rolling Stone that he doesn’t “do multiverses” when it comes to his own filmography. Mangold was asked if he considered re-casting Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” as Mangold directed Phoenix as the singer in 2005 Oscar-winning film “Walk the Line.”
“I don’t do multiverses,” Mangold said. “But beyond that Johnny Cash was like, 30 [during the ‘A Complete Unknown’ era]. I love Joaquin, but he’s not 30, or whatever Johnny was at this moment.”
Instead, Mangold reunites with his “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” actor Boyd Holbrook, who will portray Cash alongside Timothée Chalamet’s Dylan.
In addition to helming the fifth “Indiana Jones” film, Mangold has also directed “The Wolverine” and “Logan.”
“It’s weird that I’ve even worked in the world of IP entertainment because I don’t like multi-movie universe-building,” Mangold said. “I think it’s the enemy of storytelling. The death of storytelling. It’s more interesting to people the way the Legos connect than the way the story works in front of us.”
The “Ford v. Ferrari” filmmaker continued, “For me, the goal becomes, always, ‘What is unique about this film, and these characters?’ Not making you think about some other movie or some Easter egg or something else, which is all an intellectual act, not an emotional act. You want the movie to work on an emotional level.”
Mangold previously told Variety that he was “not interested” in making any spinoffs from his “Indiana Jones” installment.
“I refuse. I just can’t do it,” he said. “The amount of lore and Easter eggs and fan service starts to become antithetical to any of this stuff at a certain point. It isn’t storytelling anymore. It’s large-scale advertising.”
Mangold, however, teased more Lucasfilm collaborations after “Indiana Jones 5,” particularly as part of the “Star Wars” universe. Mangold previously tried to develop a Boba Fett spinoff movie.
Back in 2018, Mangold tweeted that “Star Wars” fans held up franchise installments like “a religious text,” adding to the pressure of writing scripts.
“At the point when writing and directing big franchises has become the emotionally loaded equivalent of writing a new chapter of The Bible (with the probable danger of being stoned and called a blasphemer), then a lot of bolder minds are gonna leave these films to hacks and corporate boards,” Mangold said. “The fervor of some attacks has an evangelical ferocity. Now, I get it cause for many folk, including me, the ‘Star Wars’ saga holds tremendous spiritual power, similar to a religious text. But we must remember to try to handle our disappointments the way Yoda might, as opposed to Darth.”
